مقالات رزومه ریحانه رفیع زاده

Video games are an essential phenomenon within new media art, utilizing game controllers that enable players to provide commands and receive corresponding output to interact with the system. In recent years, various controllers for video games have been introduced, some of which enable players to provide physical inputs using their entire body. Yet, it is inherent in human nature to interact with the world directly without intermediaries. In essence, the process of interacting with technology via intermediaries, such as video game controllers, introduces a new mechanism for human users. The primary aim of this research is to analyze the ways in which various controller generations in video games map the player's body schema within the game world. Moreover, the article delves into how symbiotic controllers can enhance the video game playing experience by accurately mapping a player's entire physical body in virtual space.

This study has been conducted using qualitative research methods, specifically a case study approach. Documentary data, including online video documents, and observational data obtained from watching players during gameplay, have been used to answer the research questions. The video data was obtained from players interacting with three distinct controllers - the Wii remote of the Nintendo system in Wii-Sports, the Dual Shock controller of Sony's system, and Microsoft's Kinect technology - in a selected set of games, from a total of over 20 videos available online. The video selection included prominent instances of player interaction with the game using the three different controller types. In alignment with Calleja's theory, video game controllers can be classified into three types: symbolic, imitative, and symbiotic. These controller types will be discussed further in the analysis section of this research.

The body schema is an unconscious sensorimotor system that allows humans to perform activities efficiently without the need for conscious awareness or control. The important aspect to note about the body schema is its inherent flexibility and capacity for expansion during the embodied experience of users interacting with digital media. Video game controllers differentiate this medium from other visual media, like cinema and television, by acting as a link between the virtual and physical worlds. As such, controllers are responsible for accurately mapping a player's actions within the game. In fact, controllers serve as an automatic extension of the player's body and a means of translating the player's agency into digital signals that can be interpreted by hardware and software. We observed two types of actions performed using the controller: primary actions, such as moving the joystick or pressing a button, and more complex, context-specific actions, like aiming a gun or driving a car. Primarily, controllers enable players to physically move their bodies to perform specific actions. In contrast, the main action refers to what is done in the game and can be composed of various elementary actions that may or may not relate to the physical movements performed by the player. This discrepancy highlights an issue that affects the accuracy of mapping a player's body scheme, as their bodies may be performing different actions than those displayed on the game screen.

Learning how to use a controller to navigate and explore the game is a crucial aspect of the player's experience. Controllers should be internalized and used intuitively to provide an enjoyable experience. Moreover, altering the controller input and changing the controller schema can drastically affect the player's experience, comparable to the learning curve of acquiring a new language to communicate with technology. While symbolic controllers map minimal real-world actions to maximal game-world actions, resulting in inconsistent body schema mapping, imitative and symbiotic controllers exhibit a congruent mapping between what the player does and the corresponding game-world action. However, other issues can arise, including a gap between the player's body scheme and natural experience. The use of symbiotic controllers, while allowing for natural actions, is limited in its ability to provide meaningful feedback to the player. This is because the game system and mediator do not provide the necessary bi-directional, natural feedback to accurately map the player's body schema and natural experience.

When players of video games are driving cars through the wintery landscapes or exploring the fantasy world of game, they experience different kind of Art and entertainment. Although it is said that games mimic the aesthetic of traditional media such as cinema the important aspect of video games is interactivity, which distinguish that from that medium. Video games are defined as interactive forms that contain technological, cultural, economic and artistic elements. But there are also specifics for games which only find in this medium. The main difference of video games with other type of interactive arts is avatars. Today, players of different genre of digital games can be immersed in virtual world of games by means of their avatars. Avatar is a virtual representation of player in the game world that can be customized or be invariant. Avatars has two aspects; they are characters that can affect identity of players if they are merged with a good story; and another aspect of avatars is their agency.it means the possibilities an avatar has and how and in which way avatar can affect the world. The main question of this paper is what is the role of avatars is in videogames and experience of their players. The method used is Qualitative and descriptive-analytic. We focused on First person shooter for narrow our question. at first we describe avatar, after that we define perspective and point of view. We use the model that say there are three viewpoints in a videogame: Ideal viewpoint, actual viewpoint and avatar viewpoint. Ideal view point defines the perspective of game and is assigned to camera. Actual view point is the point from which player see the game world and screen and avatar viewpoint is defined as what avatar can see. Then according to Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception we define life world, inter-subjectivity and extension of body through tools and technology. As Merleau-Ponty mentioned image body of a person can extend and reshape by means of tools. In the following we use the concept of game body. Game body or camera-body is defined as a phenomenal body that exist by means of camera of game. A game body is both object and subject that makes ideal perspective of games. By progressing in videogames, players get used to avatar and camera and device controllers. So they become invisible for player. Also we have actual and physical body of player and a puppet in the screen which is called avatar body.so there is three different body in video games: player body, game body and avatar body. There is a correspondence between the three viewpoints and the three kind of bodies. In FPS, POV of player matches with the view point of avatar. So the players experience the world through eyes of their avatars. Because the camera shows what the avatar can see, player can experience perspective and illusion of depth properly. Players control both game body and avatar body and three different type of body aligned in a line.